The name
Hong Kong
originally referred to a small inlet between Aberdeen Island
and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. The town of
Aberdeen
was an initial point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen.[34]
The source of the romanised name is not known, but it is generally believed to be an early imprecise phonetic rendering of the spoken Cantonese
pronunciation of 香港
(Cantonese Yale:
hēung góng), which means "fragrant harbour" or "incense harbour".[32][33][35]
"Fragrance" may refer to the sweet taste of the harbour's fresh water influx from the Pearl River
estuary or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Victoria Harbour
was developed.[35]
Another theory is that the name originates from the Tanka, early inhabitants of the region; it is equally probable that a romanisation of the name in their dialect was used (i.e.
hōng, not
hēung
in Cantonese).[36]
Regardless of origin, the name was recorded in the Treaty of Nanking
to encompass all of Hong Kong Island, and has been used to refer to the territory in its entirety ever since.[37]

After the
Qing conquest, Hong Kong was directly affected by the
Great Clearance, an imperial decree that ordered the evacuation of coastal areas of Guangdong from 1661 to 1669 as part of the new dynasty's efforts against
Ming
loyalist rebels in southern China. Over 16,000 inhabitants of Xin'an County, which included Hong Kong, were forced to migrate inland; roughly only 10% of those who had evacuated returned in subsequent years.[55]
With frequent pirate attacks and ever increasing incursions by European explorers, forts were constructed at Tung Chung
and the Kowloon Walled City
to guard the region.[56]

Though maritime trade had previously been
banned, after repopulation of the coast and
final defeat
of all rebels with Ming sympathies, the Kangxi Emperor
lifted the trade prohibition in 1684 and allowed foreigners to enter Chinese ports.[57]
Trade with Europeans was more strictly regulated and became concentrated in the Pearl River Delta
after establishment of the Canton System
in 1757, which forbade non-Russian ships from northern Chinese ports and forced all commerce to be conducted solely in the port of Canton, just north of Hong Kong.[58]
While European demand for Chinese commodities like tea, silk, and porcelain was high, Chinese interest in European manufactured goods was comparatively negligible, creating a large trade imbalance between Qing China and Great Britain. To counter this deficit, the British began to sell increasingly large volumes of Indian opium
to China.[59]
Faced with a drug addiction crisis,[60]
Chinese officials pursued ever more aggressive actions in an attempt to halt the opium trade.[59]

British colony

In 1839, the
Daoguang Emperor, having rejected proposals to legalise and tax opium, tasked
Imperial CommissionerLin Zexu
with eradicating the opium trade. Lin ordered the confiscation and destruction of all opium stockpiles in Canton and a general blockade of foreign trade.[61]
The British objected to the sudden seizure, especially without monetary compensation for the seized product, and dispatched an expeditionary force to China, starting the First Opium War. After British victory in the
Second Battle of Chuenpi, the Qing initially admitted defeat. As part of a ceasefire agreement between Captain
Charles Elliot
and Qishan,
Viceroy of Liangguang,
Hong Kong Island
was declared to be ceded under the Convention of Chuenpi. British forces took formal possession of the island on 26 January 1841. However, disputes between high-ranking officials of both countries prevented the treaty's ratification.[62]
After over a year of further hostilities, Hong Kong Island was formally ceded in perpetuity to the United Kingdom
under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking
on 29 August 1842.[63]
The British officially established a Crown colony
and founded the City of Victoria
in the following year.[64]

Hong Kong soon became a major
entrepôt
thanks to its free port
status, attracting new immigrants from both China and Europe. However, the population remained racially divided
and polarised under early British colonial policies. Despite the rise of a British-educated Chinese upper class
by the late 19th century, zoning laws prevented ethnic Chinese from acquiring property in reserved areas. Though enacted ostensibly to address health concerns of European residents,[69]
the Peak Reservation Ordinance
and other similar pieces of legislation enforced a system of residential zoning that racially segregated the population of the colony, creating exclusive communities of Europeans in areas like Victoria Peak
and Cheung Chau.[70][71]
At this time, the majority of the Chinese population in Hong Kong had no political representation in the British colonial government. The British governors did rely, however, on a small number of Chinese elites, including Sir Kai Ho
and Robert Hotung, who served as ambassadors and mediators between the government and local population. Chinese appointments to the
Legislative Council
and Executive Council
were not made until 1880 and 1926, with Wu Tingfang
and Shouson Chow
serving as the first members of the colony's ethnic majority on the respective chambers.[72][73]

The colony continued to experience modest growth during the first half of the 20th century. The
University of Hong Kong
was established in 1911 as the territory's first higher education institute. During the First World War, many Chinese residents left the city, fearing a German attack on the colony.[74]
Hong Kong ultimately remained unscathed and continued growing; its population increased from 530,000 in 1916 to 725,000 in 1925 and reached 1.6 million by 1941.[75]Kai Tak Airport
entered operation in 1925 and the colony was able to avoid a prolonged economic downturn after the Canton–Hong Kong strike
ended, which had lasted for more than a year from 1925 through 1926.[76][77][78]
At the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War
in 1937, when the Empire of Japan
invaded China from its protectorate in Manchuria, Governor
Geoffry Northcote
declared the colony a neutral zone to safeguard Hong Kong's status as a free port.[79]

Japanese military occupation

On 8 December 1941, the same morning as the
attack on Pearl Harbor, the
Imperial Japanese Army
moved south from Guangzhou
and crossed the Sham Chun River
to attack Hong Kong as part of a coordinated military offensive against the Allied Powers.[80]
The Battle of Hong Kong
lasted for 17 days, through which British, Canadian, Indian, and local colonial units defended the territory. By the fifth day, Commonwealth troops, under heavy artillery and aerial bombardment, had been forced to abandon their positions in Kowloon and retreated to Hong Kong Island.[81]
With the remaining troops unable to further mount an effective defence, Governor Young
surrendered the colony on Christmas Day. This day is remembered by locals as "Black Christmas".[82]

Post-war industrialisation

Hong Kong's population recovered quickly after the war, as a wave of skilled migrants from the
Republic of China
sought refuge from the Chinese Civil War
in a territory neutral to the conflict. When the Communist Party
took full control of mainland China in 1949, even more refugees fled across the open border in fear of persecution.[67]
Many newcomers, especially those who had been based in the major port cities of Shanghai
and Guangzhou, established corporations and small- to medium-sized businesses and shifted their base operations to Hong Kong.[67]
The establishment of the People's Republic of China
caused the British colonial government to reconsider Hong Kong's open border to mainland China. In 1951, a boundary zone
was demarcated as a buffer zone against potential military attacks from communist China.[86]
The border was actively patrolled to regulate the movement of people and goods into and out of the territory.[87]

Hong Kong in 1965

In the 1950s, Hong Kong became the first of the
Four Asian Tiger economies
to undergo rapid industrialisation driven by textile exports, manufacturing industries, and re-exports of goods to China. As the population grew, with labour costs remaining low, living standards began to rise steadily.[88]
The construction of the Shek Kip Mei Estate
in 1953 marked the beginning of the public housing estate programme, which provided shelter for the less privileged and helped cope with the continuing influx of immigrants.[89]

Under
GovernorMurray MacLehose, the government began a series of reforms to improve the quality of infrastructure and public services through the 1970s. Systemic corruption in the uniformed services had crippled trust in the government; MacLehose established the
ICAC, an independent security service under the direct authority of the Governor, to restore the integrity of the civil service.[90]
Chinese was recognised as an official language during his tenure, accelerating the process of localisation in the government, slowly handing key official posts long held only by British members of the government over to local ethnic Chinese people.[10][91]
To alleviate road traffic congestion and provide a more reliable means of crossing the Victoria Harbour, the
Mass Transit Railway
was constructed and began operations of its first line in 1979. The Island Line,
Kwun Tong Line, and
Tsuen Wan Line
all opened in the early 1980s, connecting Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and parts of the New Territories to a single transport system.[92]
MacLehose was the longest-serving colonial governor and, by the end of his governorship, had become one of the most popular and well-known figures in the territory. MacLehose laid the foundation for Hong Kong to establish itself as a key global city
in the 1980s and early 1990s.[93]

Since 1983, the value of the
Hong Kong dollar
has been pegged to that of the United States dollar. The territory's competitiveness in manufacturing gradually declined due to rising labour and property costs, as well as new industrial capacity developed in southern China under the 1978
Open Door Policy. Nevertheless, by the early 1990s, Hong Kong had established itself as a global financial centre, a regional hub for logistics and freight, one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, and the world's exemplar of
laissez-faire
market policy.[94]

The Joint Declaration laid the groundwork for bilateral co-operation concerning any Hong Kong-related issues, including the fate of the
Kowloon Walled City. The site of a former Qing military fort, the Walled City was technically a Chinese exclave in the heart of the colony which became known for rampant crime and unsanitary living conditions due to the 'hands-off' approach British authorities took with regard to the area.[96]
The Chinese government acquiesced to the demolition of the settlement in 1987 and the structure was cleared away by 1994.[97][98]

The impending retrocession of the colony to China triggered a
wave of mass emigration. Residents during the transitional period were apprehensive about life after the transfer of sovereignty and feared an erosion of civil rights and individual liberties and the integrity of the legal system, as well as an overall reduction in quality of life post-handover.[99]
Although colonial residents were British subjects, Parliament
denied Hongkongers the right of abode in Britain.[100][101]
Emigrants left with the goal of obtaining residency or citizenship in Western countries, such as the United States,
Canada, and
Australia.[102][103]
Over half a million people in total left the territory during the peak migration period from 1987 until 1996.[104]

Special administrative region

Almost immediately after the transfer of sovereignty, Hong Kong's economy was severely affected by the
Asian financial crisis
and further depressed by the outbreak of the H5N1 strain
of avian flu.
Financial SecretaryDonald Tsang
used the substantial territorial foreign currency reserves
to maintain the Hong Kong dollar's currency peg and spent over HK$120 billion on significant holdings of major Hong Kong companies to prevent a general market collapse.[67]
While complete disaster was averted, Chief ExecutiveTung's housing policy of building 85,000 subsidised flats a year triggered a housing market crisis in 1998, depressing property prices and
bankrupting
some homeowners.[112]
Hong Kong was again gravely affected by the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS) in 2003.[113][114]
In total, 1,755 people were infected, with 299 fatalities.[115]
Economic activities slowed and schools were closed for weeks at the height of the epidemic. An estimated HK$380 million (US$48.9 million) in contracts were lost as a result of the epidemic.[116]
While Hong Kong was also severely affected by the global recession
of the late 2000s, the Tsang government
introduced a series of economic stimulus measures that prevented a prolonged recession.[117]

Violent attacks
on journalists, an increasing level of press self-censorship, alleged extraterritorial abduction of anti-China publishers,[121]
and covert intervention into Hong Kong's educational, political, and independent institutions have posed challenges to the policy of one country, two systems. In the
2016 legislative election, there were reports of discrepancies in the electorate registry, which contained ghost registrations across constituencies, as well as political intervention to strip pro-independence individuals of their right to stand in elections[122]
and alleged death threats to election candidates.[123]
Social divisiveness on ethnic identity heightened markedly during Leung's term, especially among younger members of the population. An ongoing University of Hong Kong study found that 69.7% of those aged 18 to 29 considered themselves as Hongkongers, while only 0.3% identified as Chinese; at the end of 2011, before the start of Leung's tenure as Chief Executive, ethnic identity polling for that demographic measured 42.4% and 11.8%, respectively.[124][125]

Legal system and judiciary

The judicial system is derived from the
common law
system of English law, and was created at the establishment of the territory as a British colony.
Chinese national law
does not generally apply in the region, and Hong Kong is treated as an independent jurisdiction.[142]
The Court of Final Appeal
is the territory's highest court, exercising final adjudication over interpretation of laws and has the power to strike down statutes and legislation inconsistent with the Basic Law.[143][144]
It is led by the Chief Justice
and consists of three additional permanent judges and one non-permanent seat filled on a rotating basis by both local judges and those invited from overseas common law jurisdictions.[132][145]
However, authoritative interpretative power over the Basic Law itself instead lies with the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Judges on all courts are appointed by the Chief Executive on the recommendation of an independent commission.[132][146]
As a common law jurisdiction, Hong Kong courts may refer to precedents set in English law and Commonwealth
judicial rulings.[132][145]

The
Department of Justice
is responsible for handling legal matters on behalf of the government. Its responsibilities include providing legal advice, criminal prosecution, civil representation, legal and policy drafting and reform, and international judicial co-operation between different jurisdictions.[142]
Apart from prosecuting criminal cases, lawyers of the Department of Justice represent the government in any civil and administrative lawsuits against the administration.[142]
The department may call for judicial review
of government action or legislation and may intervene in cases that may involve the greater public interest.[147]
The Basic Law protects the Department of Justice from interference by the government when exercising its control over criminal prosecution.[132][148]
Law enforcement is a responsibility of the Security Bureau
and its uniformed services, which include the Hong Kong Police,
Customs and Excise Department, and
Immigration Department.[149]

Greater China relations

Entry stamp, on attached paper flag, for the same day from Hong Kong's
Lo Wu Control Point, affixed upon return from Shenzhen.

The
Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau
is responsible for co-ordinating with the central government on issues related to the implementation and interpretation of the Basic Law, electoral matters, and bilateral economic and legal co-operative efforts.[150]
Because national law does not automatically apply in the territory, the two governments periodically negotiate formal agreements that cover a range of issues, including cross-boundary trade, law enforcement co-operation, environmental protection, shipping logistics, among other fields.[151]
The Liaison Office
is the mainland authority's corresponding representative and co-operative body in the region and maintains an extensive network of relations with local commercial, educational, and cultural organisations in addition to its government functions.[152]

The
Closer Partnership Economic Arrangement
formalised a policy of free trade
between Hong Kong and the mainland, with each government committing to reduce regulations concerning cross-boundary trade and investments.[153]
The agreement forms the basis for further integration between the two regions, with supplements concerning more areas of co-operation added to the arrangement almost every year since its signing.[153]
A similar economic partnership arrangement with Macau
also details liberalisation of trade and deregulation of the movement of goods and services between the two special administrative regions.[154]
Cross-strait relations with Taiwan
falls under the purview of the Hong Kong–Taiwan Economic and Cultural Co-operation and Promotion Council.[155]

There are 123
consular missions in Hong Kong, maintained not only by other countries but major supranational organizations, including the
European Union. A number of consulates-general, such as those of the
United States
and United Kingdom, operate independently of their corresponding embassies in Beijing, extend their areas of jurisdiction beyond Hong Kong to include Macau, are headed by officials with ambassadorial rank, and report directly to their respective foreign offices.[172][173]
The regional government itself maintains trade offices
for conducting external commercial relations throughout Greater China
and in foreign countries.[174]

The territory is administratively divided into 18 districts. Each district is represented by a
District Council, which advises the government on local issues such as the provisioning of public facilities, maintenance of community programmes, promotion of cultural activities, and improvement of environmental policies.[175]
There are a total of 458 seats in the District Councils, 431 of which are directly elected while the remaining 27 are filled by ex officio
members
consisting of rural committee
chairmen, representing villages and towns of outlying areas of the New Territories.[175]
The Home Affairs Department
communicates government policies and plans to the public through the district offices.[176]
Local administration of municipal services was previously delegated to the Urban Council
in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island and to the Regional Council
in the New Territories, until they were abolished in 1999.[177]

Electoral and political reforms

Although the Basic Law lays the foundation for the regional government, some of its articles require more specific legislation to be adopted before implementation.
Article 23
provides for laws that prohibit treason and subversion in the territory, and a bill was drafted pursuant to this constitutional requirement. The government dropped this proposal after fierce opposition and protests against its perceived potential to restrict freedom of information.[135][178]

Articles 45
and 68 state that the ultimate goal is for both the Chief Executive and all members of the Legislative Council to be selected by universal suffrage.[159]
While the legislature is now partially directly elected, the executive continues to be selected by means other than direct election. From its establishment as a colony, Hong Kong has not had a fully representative democratic
government. Colonial administration prior to the Second World War largely excluded Chinese representation.[179]
When Hong Kong was a British territory, the executive was embodied by the Sovereign, who appointed and was personally represented by the
Governor. The Legislative Council initially consisted exclusively of appointed white British members, with its
first Chinese member
not joining the chamber until 1880.[72]
After the end of Japanese occupation and the resumption of British control, amidst the greater movement of global decolonisation, the government
seriously considered constitutional reform
in Hong Kong; this was ultimately shelved due to fears of government infiltration by communist sympathisers after their victory at the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War.[180]

Electoral reform continues to be a contentious issue after the transfer of sovereignty. The government faces ongoing calls to introduce direct election of the Chief Executive and all Legislative Council members.[184]
These efforts have been partially successful; the Election Committee no longer selects a portion of the Legislative Council. It was expanded from 800 to 1,200 members, and ten new council seats were added, for a total of 70.[185]
A central government decision
in 2014 to require Chief Executive candidates to be pre-screened as part of a reform package to introduce universal suffrage
incited large-scale protests
demanding a more open process.[186]
The proposal was later rejected by the legislature and the executive selection process remains unchanged.[187]

Sociopolitical issues and human rights

The Basic Law establishes a series of fundamental rights for every resident of Hong Kong.[188]
Though the regional government generally observes these guarantees, the central government has been increasingly perceived to be encroaching on the autonomy of the territory.[189][190][191]

Freedom of the press
since the handover have been threatened by incidents of physical violence against journalists and as news media organisations are pressured to not publish stories that portray the central government in a negative way.[196][197]
News media has been increasingly prone to self-censorship, as publication owners expand business interests on the mainland or media organisations become acquired by Chinese corporations.[198][199]
The police have been accused of using excessive force against protesters at public rallies and overtly barring demonstrators from free assembly.[200][201]

Ethnic minorities, excluding those of European ancestry, have marginal representation in government and are often discriminated against while seeking housing, education, and employment opportunities.[202][203]
While legislation prohibits discrimination based on age, sex, and disability, it specifically excludes migrant workers, along with immigrants and mainland Chinese.[204][205]
Employment vacancies and public service appointments frequently have language requirements, which minority job seekers frequently fail to meet, while language education resources remain inadequate for Chinese learners.[206][207]
In recent years, residents of a minority ethnicity have been more frequently placed on government advisory committees to address racial issues.[208]

Foreign domestic helpers, predominantly women from the
Philippines
and Indonesia, have little protection under territorial law. Although residing and working in Hong Kong, workers of this class are not treated as ordinarily resident, barring them from eligibility for
right of abode.[209]
Domestic helpers are required to live in the residence of the employer and must leave Hong Kong within two weeks on termination of an employment contract or face deportation.[210]
Additionally, the Immigration Department does not renew visas for workers who change employers more than three times in a single year.[211]
Legislation offers nominal protection for migrant workers, but the legal process for recourse is time-consuming and costly, potentially taking 15 months for cases to be heard in the District Court
or Labour Tribunal.[212]
The culmulative effect of these policies and legislation leaves foreign domestic helpers vulnerable to exploitation and abuse by employers and greatly restricts their labour mobility.[213][214]

Residents of Hong Kong are not required to perform military service. Current law has no provision for enlistment of local residents, meaning that the military force defending the territory is composed entirely of non-Hongkonger personnel.[218]
As responsibility for the defence of Hong Kong rests solely with the central authority, the regional government is not obligated to bear the expenditures of the garrison stationed in the city.[135]
The only military-affiliated organisation that recruits local residents is the Hong Kong Army Cadets Association, a uniformed youth organisation of children aged 6 and older sponsored by the People's Liberation Army.[219]

As much of Hong Kong's terrain is hilly to mountainous with steep slopes, less than 25% of the territory's landmass is developed, while the majority is grassland, woodland, shrubland, and agricultural land.[221]
About 40% of the remaining land area is reserved as country parks
and nature reserves.[222]
Low elevation vegetation in Hong Kong is dominated by secondaryrainforests, as the
primary forest
was mostly cleared during the Second World War, and higher elevations are dominated by grassland. The territory is highly diverse: over 3,000 species of
vascular plants
occur in the region, 300 of which are native to Hong Kong.[223]
Over 2,000 species of moths, butterflies, dragonflies, and other insects can be found, as well as one third of the total bird species in China, and a variety of fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals native to the Pearl River Delta.[224]
The Bauhinia
orchid, native to the region, serves as a symbol for the city, appearing on the territorial flag and emblem.[225]

Higher-altitude areas of Hong Kong are often dominated by grassland: Lantau Island during the dry season.

Despite Hong Kong's intense urbanisation, it has tried to promote a green environment,[230]
and recent growing public concern has prompted the severe restriction of further land reclamation
from Victoria Harbour.[231]
Environmental awareness is growing as Hong Kong suffers from increasing pollution compounded by its geography and tall buildings. Approximately 80% of the city's smog
originates from other parts of the Pearl River Delta.[232]

Climate

In the
Köppen–Geiger classification system, Hong Kong has a
humid subtropical climate
(Cwa), though it is situated 128 kilometres (80 mi) south of the
Tropic of Cancer.[233]
Summer is hot and humid with occasional showers and thunderstorms, and warm air coming from the southwest. Typhoons
most often occur in summer, sometimes resulting in flooding or landslides. Winters are mild and usually start sunny, becoming cloudier towards February; the occasional cold front brings strong, cooling winds from the north. The most temperate seasons are spring, which can be changeable, and autumn, which is generally sunny and dry.[234]
Snowfall is extremely rare, and usually occurs in areas of high elevation. Hong Kong averages 1,948 hours of sunshine per year,[235]
while the highest and lowest ever recorded temperatures at the Hong Kong Observatory
are 36.6 °C (97.9 °F) on 22 August 2017 and 0.0 °C (32.0 °F) on 18 January 1893, respectively.[236][237][not in citation given]
The highest and lowest ever recorded temperatures across all of Hong Kong, on the other hand, are 38.4 °C (101 °F) at Waglan Island
in June 1991[238]
and −6.0 °C (21.2 °F) at Tai Mo Shan
on 24 January 2016, respectively.

Architecture

There are 1,223 skyscrapers in Hong Kong,
the most in the world,[242]
with more buildings taller than 500 feet (150 m) than any other city. The high density
and tall skyline of Hong Kong's urban area is due to a lack of available sprawl
space, with the average distance from the harbourfront to the steep hills of Hong Kong Island at 1.3 km (0.81 mi),[243]
much of it reclaimed land. This lack of space causes demand for dense, high-rise offices and housing. Thirty-six of the world's 100 tallest residential buildings are in Hong Kong.[244]
More people in Hong Kong live or work above the 14th floor than anywhere else on Earth, making it the world's most vertical city.[245][246]

There are many development plans in place, including the construction of
new government buildings,[257]
waterfront redevelopment in Central,[258]
and a series of projects in West Kowloon.[259]
More high-rise development is set to take place on the other side of Victoria Harbour in Kowloon, as the 1998 closure of the nearby Kai Tak Airport
lifted strict height restrictions.[260]
The Urban Renewal Authority
is highly active in demolishing older areas, including the razing and redevelopment of Kwun Tong
town centre, an approach which has been criticised for its impact on the cultural identity
of the city and on lower-income residents.[261]

The
Census and Statistics Department
estimated the population to be 7,409,800 people as of December 2017,[6]
with an average annual growth rate of 0.66% over the previous five years.[267]
The territorial population has multiplied by over a factor of 12 since the end of the Second World War, from about 600,000 in 1945.[265][6]
Since 1979,[268]
the fertility rate has consistently declined below the replacement level of 2.1, reaching 1.2 children per woman in 2016.[269]
Continued growth can be attributed to high rates of immigration from foreign countries and Greater China; 40% of the population were born outside of the territory.[270]

Chinese citizens ordinarily resident in
mainland China
are not entitled to right of abode in Hong Kong, and are subject to immigration controls. Like foreign nationals, they may apply for right of abode after seven years of continuous residency. Some rights may be acquired through marriage (e.g., the right to work), but these do not include the right to vote or stand for office.[280]
The influx of Chinese immigrants is a significant contributor to territorial population growth, and is limited by a daily quota of 150 people with existing family ties in Hong Kong. These immigrants are issued a One-way Permit
and have their household registration
in the mainland rescinded.[281]

Languages

The two official languages of Hong Kong are
Chinese
and English.
Cantonese, a
variety of Chinese
originating from the province of Guangdong
north of Hong Kong, is spoken by the vast majority of the population.[283]
According to the 2016 by-census, 94.6% of the population speak Cantonese; 88.9% as a first language and 5.7% as a second language.[284]

The
Basic Law
is written in Chinese and English,[285][286]
and legislation enacted since the handover has been drafted in both languages.[287]
Colonial era legislation and court proceedings predominantly used English, so the two languages share a coequal status in the common law system of the territory.[288]
Approximately half of the population speaks English, though only 4.3% use it natively and 48.9% as a second language.[284]Hong Kong English
is the common form of English used in the region, generally following British English
in spelling and heavily influenced by Cantonese pronunciations. Among the bilingual members of the population, many exhibit code-switching, mixing English and Cantonese in informal conversation.[289]

Since the transfer of sovereignty, an influx of
mainland Chinese
immigrants and greater interaction with the rest of the national economy have brought an increasing number of Mandarin
speakers to Hong Kong.[290]
Mandarin is about as prevalent as English in the territory; 48.6% of the population can speak it, with 1.9% using it as a first language and 46.7% as a second language.[284]
Hong Kong uses traditional Chinese characters
in written script, rather than the simplified characters
that are officially used in the mainland.[291]

Personal income and wealth

Hong Kong has the highest statistical
income gap
in the Asia-Pacific
region. The Census and Statistics Department measured the Gini coefficient
of the territory as 53.9 using data collected in the 2016 by-census.[8]:92
Income inequality has risen since the transfer of sovereignty, as the region's ageing population has gradually added to the number of economically inactive people.[8]:1
While median household income has also steadily increased in the last decade, the wage gap remains high, with the 90th percentile of earners receiving 41% of all income.[8]:86
Hong Kong is ranked fourth in terms of the highest percentage of millionaire households, with 8.5 per cent of all households holding at least US$1 million.[292]
The city also has the second most billionaires per capita, with one per 132,075 people.[293]
Despite government efforts to reduce growth of the disparity through assistance programmes such as the Old Age Living Allowance,[8]:5
median income for the top 10 per cent of earners is 44 times that of the bottom 10 per cent.[294][8]:80
There were 908 homeless persons
registered with the Social Welfare Department
by the end of 2016,[295]:375
though it is estimated that the actual number is almost double the official figure.[296]

Hong Kong is the world's seventh largest trading entity in both
exports
and imports, with the total value of traded goods exceeding its gross domestic product.[20][21]
It is also the world's largest transshipment
centre;[316]
much of its exports consist of re-exports,[317]
products manufactured outside of the territory, especially in mainland China, and distributed via Hong Kong. Its physical location has allowed the city to establish a transportation and logistics infrastructure that includes the world's second busiest container port and the world's busiest airport for international cargo. The territory's largest export markets are mainland China
and the United States.[4]

The territory has little arable land and few natural resources, so it imports most of its food and raw materials. Imports account for more than 90 per cent of Hong Kong's food supply, including nearly all of the meat and rice available there.[318]
Agricultural activity, relatively unimportant to Hong Kong's economy and contributing just 0.1% of GDP, primarily consists of growing premium food and flower varieties.[319]

While the territory boasted one of the largest manufacturing economies in Asia during the latter half of the colonial era as the city industrialised, Hong Kong's economy is now dominated by the services sector. Services alone constitute 92.7 per cent of economic output, with the public sector accounting for about 10 per cent.[320]
As one of the Four Asian Tigers, Hong Kong rapidly
industrialised
as a manufacturing centre driven by exports through the post-war decades of the 20th century, turning the territory into a developedhigh-income
area by the end of the colonial era.[321]
Between 1961 and 1997, Hong Kong's gross domestic product
multiplied by a factor of 180, while per-capita GDP increased 87 times over.[322][323][324]
The territory's GDP relative to mainland China's peaked at 27 per cent in 1993, but this has since fallen significantly as the mainland developed and liberalised its economy, declining to less than 3 per cent in 2017.[325]

Hong Kong's economic and infrastructure integration with China has increased significantly from the start of
market liberalisation
in the mainland beginning in 1978. Since resumption of cross-boundary train service
in 1979, multiple rail and road links have been continuously improved and constructed, facilitating trade between the regions.[326][327]
The Closer Partnership Economic Arrangement
formalised a policy of free trade
between Hong Kong and the mainland, with each jurisdiction pledging to eliminate remaining obstacles to the trade of goods and services and cross-boundary investments.[328]
Chinese companies have greatly expanded their economic presence in the territory since the transfer of sovereignty; mainland firms now represent over half of the total value of the Hang Seng Index, up from just 5 per cent in 1997.[329][330]

The
Hong Kong dollar
has been pegged
to the United States dollar
since 1983. Because most business transactions in the territory are done in US dollars, the fixed exchange-rate system is intended to reduce foreign exchange risk for international traders and investors.[331]
Policy changes implemented by the Federal Reserve
affect Hong Kong, but do not necessarily take the territory into account, and volatility in the value of the US dollar itself requires the Monetary Authority
to continually maintain the fixed exchange rate at substantial cost.[332]
Consequently, there are periodic appeals to discontinue the existing currency peg, and to either allow the Hong Kong dollar to be freely floated
or peg it to the Chinese renminbi.[333][334]

Infrastructure

Energy

Hong Kong imports most of its generated electricity and fuel.[339]:1
The vast majority of this energy comes from fossil fuels, with 46% from coal and 47% from petroleum.[339]:9
The remainder is from other imports, including nuclear energy generated on the mainland.[339]:29
Renewable sources accounts for a negligible amount of total energy generated for the territory;[339]:6
wind power sources have only been developed at a very small scale,[339]:1
while solar panels are deployed on a limited scale for use in private homes.[340]

Water and sanitation

With few natural lakes and rivers, a high population density, groundwater sources inaccessible through hard granite bedrock, and extremely seasonal variations in rainfall, the territory does not have an adequately reliable local source of fresh water. Thus, the
Dongjiang River
in neighbouring Guangdong
supplies 70% of the city's water. Use of seawater for toilet flushing, supplied through a separate distribution system, greatly reduces strain on freshwater supply.[341]
A planned desalination plant in Tseung Kwan O
is expected to reduce dependence on imports and provide a more reliable water source during periods of low rainfall and severe droughts.[342]

Hong Kong has a highly developed and sophisticated transport network, encompassing both
public
and private modes of travel. Regulation and administrative policy is handled by the Transport Department. Over 90% of daily journeys are made on public transport, the highest such percentage in the world.[28]
The Octopus card, a
contactlesssmartpayment
card, is widely accepted on railways, buses, and ferries, and can be used for payment in most retail stores.[348][349]
Launched in 1997 on the Mass Transit Railway, it was the second contactless smart card system in the world and is a ubiquitous form of payment throughout the territory.[350]

While public transport systems handle the majority of passenger traffic, there are over 500,000 private vehicles licensed in Hong Kong.[356]
Because of the territory's small size, residents are discouraged from private car ownership; cars are subjected to a first-time registration tax, which varies from 35% to over 100% depending on the size and value of the car, and over half the cost of petrol sold at filling stations is due to taxes.[357][358][359]
Road traffic is extremely congested during peak hours, with average vehicle speeds reaching as a low as 10 km/h (6.2 mph) on major roads.[360]
Congestion is exacerbated by the urban layout of the city, the physical constraints to expanding road transport infrastructure, and a growing number of vehicles.[361]

Hong Kong is famous for its
junk
ships that traverse the harbour, and small kai-to
ferries that serve remote coastal settlements.[371][372]

Buses and trams

Public bus services
are franchised and run by five private companies, together operating more than 700 routes across the territory. The largest are Kowloon Motor Bus, providing 402 routes in Kowloon and New Territories;
Citybus, operating 154 routes on Hong Kong Island; and
New World First Bus, running an additional 56 routes in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. All three major bus operators provide cross-harbour services, serving as a major transport link for the 3.9 million daily bus passengers.[352]Double-decker buses
were introduced to Hong Kong in 1949, and are now almost exclusively used; single-decker buses remain in use for routes with lower demand or roads with lower load capacity. Public light buses
serve most parts of Hong Kong, particularly areas where standard bus lines cannot reach or do not reach as frequently, quickly, or directly.[373]

Education

Education in Hong Kong is largely modelled after
that of the United Kingdom, particularly the
English system.[379]
Children are required to attend school from the age of six until completion of secondary education, generally at age 18.[380][381]
Mandatory education has contributed to an adult literacy rate of 95.7%.[382]
At the end of secondary schooling, a public examination is administered to all students, awarding the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education
on successful completion.[383]
Of residents aged 15 and older, 81.3% completed lower secondary schooling, 66.4% graduated from upper secondary, 31.6% attended a non-degree tertiary program, and 24% earned a bachelor's degree
or higher.[295]:66

Comprehensive schools
fall under three categories: public schools, which are fully government-run; subsidised schools, including government aid-and-grant schools; and private schools, often those run by religious organisations and that base admissions on academic merit. These schools are subject to the curriculum guidelines as provided by the Education Bureau. Private schools subsidised under the Direct Subsidy Scheme
and international schools
fall outside of this system and may elect to use differing curricula and teach based on other languages.[381]

The government maintains a policy of "mother tongue instruction", in which the
medium of instruction
is Cantonese,[384]
with written education in both Chinese and English. In secondary schools, "biliterate and trilingual" proficiency is emphasised, which has encouraged the proliferation of spoken Mandarin
language education.[385]
The Programme for International Student Assessment
ranked Hong Kong's education system as the second best in the world.[386]

Health

Healthcare in Hong Kong is mainly provided by the
Hospital Authority, a government agency that administers the 42 public medical facilities in the territory.[392]
Treatment in the universal
public system is highly subsidised and available to all residents, permanent and non-permanent, who have an
identity card.[393]
While the statutory system fulfills the vast majority of medical service needs, private healthcare facilities provide more readily accessible and specialised care at higher cost, especially for individuals with non-resident status.[393]
Healthcare policy and provisioning is set by the Department of Health, which also directly supervises the 12 registered private hospital facilities.[394]

Life expectancy in Hong Kong is 81.3 years for males and 87.3 years for females as of 2016[update], making it the seventh-highest in the world.[4][395]
The region also has one of the lowest infant mortality rates, at 1.5 per 1,000 births.[396]
Infants are generally well immunised against communicable diseases.[397]

Cancer,
pneumonia,
heart disease,
cerebrovascular disease, and severe injuries caused by accidents are the five leading causes of death in the territory.[397]Obesity
rates have increased sharply in the last decade; approximately 30% of the population is obese and an additional 20% is overweight.[398]
Adolescent pregnancy rates are comparatively lower than many developed nations.[399]
Official abortion rates are similarly low, but it is estimated that the number of people who seek termination is higher due to procedural barriers and costs.[400][401][402]

The territorial healthcare system is separate from those serving
mainland China
and Macau. Individuals from those regions seeking medical services in Hong Kong are not entitled to publicly subsidised care intended for local residents,[403]
with the reverse being true as well.[404][405]
Stricter medical procedure standards, lower mortality rates, and the prospect of permanent residency have led expectant mothers from the mainland to travel to the city to give birth, straining capacity of local maternity wards.[406][407]
Macanese residents also often seek regular care in Hong Kong, due to a lack of developed healthcare infrastructure in Macau's physically limited area.[403]

Culture

Hong Kong is frequently described as a place where "East
meets West", reflecting the cultural mix of the territory's Chinese roots with Western influence from its time as a British colony.[408]
Though the vast majority of the population is ethnically Chinese, the long period of colonial administration and sustained exposure to Western culture has resulted in a distinct cultural identity from that of mainland China.[409]
Mainstream culture in Hong Kong is an Eastern culture
largely derived from immigrants originating from various parts of China, but influenced by British-style education, a separate political system, and the territory's status as a major port of trade.[409][410]

Chinese immigrants after the Second World War fueled Hong Kong's economic growth in the post-war decades, creating the perception that residents enjoy high
social mobility
and a culture characterised by individual entrepreneurialism
and a strong work ethic
among those who arrived.[411][412]
As most incoming migrants from the mainland were fleeing economic hardship, people in Hong Kong today tend to tie self-image and decision-making to material benefits quite closely.[411][413][414]

Concepts like
feng shui
are taken very seriously, with expensive construction projects often hiring expert consultants, and are often believed to make or break a business.[415]
Other objects like Ba gua
mirrors are still regularly used to deflect evil spirits,[416]
and buildings often lack any floor number that has a 4
in it,[417]
due to its similarity to the word for "die" in Cantonese.[418]
The fusion of east and west also characterises Hong Kong's cuisine, where dim sum,
hot pot, and
fast food
restaurants coexist with haute cuisine.[419]

Due to British colonial influence, Hong Kong had an earlier introduction to Western athletics compared to other East Asian regions.[428]
As part of the government's active involvement in promoting sports participation, the Tourism Board
organised the first international dragon boat racing competition in 1976.[429][430]

Hong Kong generates the largest
horse race gambling
turnover in the world. The Hong Kong Jockey Club
founded in 1884, holds a monopoly on horse racing wagers, lotteries and football betting and is the largest taxpayer to the government.[432]
In 2009, Hong Kong generated an average US$12.7 million in gambling turnover per race 6 times larger than its closest rival France
at US$2 million while the United States only generated $250,000.[433]

Magazine and newspaper publishers in Hong Kong distribute and print in both Chinese and English, with a focus on sensationalism and celebrity gossip.[436]
Unlike the government's public presence in broadcasting, newspaper publications in the territory are all privately owned. The largest Chinese-language newspapers by local circulation are the Headline Daily
and Oriental Daily News. The most widely circulating English-language counterparts are the
South China Morning Post, which is the publication of record for the territory, and
The Standard.

Notable people

See also

Notes

^A
Hong Kong permanent resident
can be of any nationality, including
Chinese,
British, or others. A person not of Chinese nationality who has entered Hong Kong with a valid travel document, has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than seven years, and has taken Hong Kong as his or her place of permanent residence, is legally recognized as a
Hongkonger.[16]